2022 Issue > 2022 Thomas Hickey Creative Writing Contest Winners > 99 Obstacles
"Swooning with the Swans"
by Roberta Condon
2022 Thomas Hickey Creative Writing Contest Winner in Poetry
99 Obstacles
After Morgan Parker
Whitney Schwindenhammer
1. I really miss Obama
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2. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
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3. Quedarse de piedra
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4. 322 calories in avocados
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5. I'd rather have gelato
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6. Why do you eat on a first date?
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7. I hate to go to lectures
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8. Work out at least 5 times a week
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9. He holds my belly when we spoon
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10. “self-care”
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11. What is so important about Friday night?
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12. Another baggy T-shirt
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13. Eating right...
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14. “dieting”
15. Escitalopram
16. Restlessness
17. 118
18. Stomach aches
19. Buying my car
20-23 Eating rituals
24. "strongly agree to strongly disagree with the following statements..."
25. Undressing in front of the mirror
26. 333 rule
27. Wyd this weekend?
28. Time management
29. YOLO
30. Angry outbursts
31. and frustration
32. Paying for tuition
33. The soundtrack to my life
34. "July" by Noah Cyrus
35. "Other Notes"
36. Missing someone is like standing in the ocean
37. "I know what you're going through"
38. Says a man
39. Amante
40-45. "Dude"
46. Bad dreams
47. I had too many shots
48. still woke up at 7 on a Saturday
49. "Pepas" by Farruko
50. Interracial couples
51. Not the "right" Spanish
52. Que tal?
53. Bilingual
54.Wine Wednesday
55. Birth control
56. Fiambre
57. Men in general
58. Men that look too long
59. White men
60. Gringos
61. Privelegio
62. Triggers
63-68. What I had to drink
69. Sex
70. The right pair of jeans
71. Frat parties
72. Conversation
73. Vices
74.Weed
75. Sex, again
76. My prom dress
77. That one drug test
78. The ex-boyfriend
79. Time is a social construct
80. "signs you have..."
81. Needing a job
82. but not wanting one
83. and not having enough money for…
84. the fun stuff
85. Gas
86. Sushi
87. because fast food is bad for you
88. To "go out"
89. Paying for an apartment
90. "Thank God" by Sasha Sloan
91. The word "diagnosis"
92. Checking to see if your thumb meets your pointer finger
93. around the opposite wrist
94. Messy room
95. At least I washed my hair
96. Never have I ever said a prayer
97. Rubbing your feet together at night
98. Tapping your toe instead of your leg
99. 999
Whitney Schwindenhammer is a Spanish major at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. She is a sophomore and aspires to be a translator in the future.
Roberta Condon is an artist and gallerist from Portage, WI. She is an award-winning Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, and a member of the Master’s Circle in the International Association of Pastel Societies. Roberta Condon has a gallery and studio at 223 W Cook Street in Portage, WI and is the author of the book “Agriculture All Around, Agriculture Run Aground” which discusses the loss of the family farm in the Midwest. This work is from her book in progress, and series of paintings entitled “A Hollow Boned Muse”.